Palmer's Posts

We will continue retracing Paul’s missionary journeys as he leaves Athens and travels south thirty-six miles to Corinth, the capital of the Roman province of Achaia (Acts 18). The city had been destroyed by the Romans in 146 BC and re-founded by Julius Caesar as a colony. The Corinth of Paul’s day became a bustling new city, burgeoning with a rapid influx of resources, settled veterans, and a growing population.  Corinth also had reputation as a decadent city of commerce, vice, and immorality. For Paul, it was a long way from home, the farthest place he had yet traveled. It must have seemed overwhelming to arrive in a city totally unreached with the gospel. He would later write that he came to Corinth “in weakness and in fear and much trembling” (1 Cor. 2:3). Jesus encourages Paul by sending Aquila and his wife Priscilla to help him. They had recently left Rome due to the edict of the Roman emperor Claudius who banished Jews from Rome due to riots within their community about a ce...

We will spend the day in the ancient city of Athens, the cultural epicenter of the ancient world and my wife’s hometown.  I have great affection for this city which has contributed so much to human civilization from architecture to the arts, from philosophy to plays, from discourse to democracy.  From any perspective, Athens is impressive. After the Greek victory over the Persians in AD 479, the Athenian statesman Pericles embarks on a lavish building program. The centerpiece is a temple, known as the Parthenon, dedicated to the virgin goddess Athena Parthenos. The architectural statement of the Parthenon is extremely well conceived. There are no straight lines in the entire structure due to subtle optical refinements. At each end, a triangular pediment holds life-sized sculptures. The eastern pediment depicts the birth of Athena from the head of Zeus; the western pediment shows the contest between Athena and Poseidon for the honor of becoming the patron deity of the city. Th...

We begin the day visiting the key sites in the city of Thessalonica.  When Paul and his missionary team first arrived, they entered into the capital city of Macedonia with a population of around 200,000, including a large Jewish population. Paul first visits the synagogue where for three successive Sabbath days he is invited to preach.  Luke tells us that “he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, ‘This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ’” (Acts 17:2-3). The verb “reasoned” is used in Judaism to describe the act of biblical interpretation. Paul read the great narrative of God’s redemptive plan in Scripture. He understood that the center of the biblical story was the death and resurrection of the Messiah. He gloriously announces that Jesus is the promised Messiah and that all who turn to him in faith find forgiveness and new life. A number of people are persu...

After a transition day crossing into Greece, we will rejoin Paul’s second missionary journey onto European soil as we visit the picturesque port of Neapolis, modern Kavala (Acts 16:11).  We will follow the Via Egnatia and proceed to Philippi, a leading city of Macedonia, named after Philip II, the father of Alexander the Great.  The city of Philippi was resettled with Roman military veterans after the famous victory of Octavian (later known as Caesar Augustus) and Marc Anthony over the last defenders of the Roman Republic led by Cassius and Brutus in 42 BC.  The city was established as a Roman colony and rebuilt to resemble a “small Rome” with a forum, theater, marketplace, and temples. Philippi maintained close communication with Rome through the Via Egnatia , which links the city across northern Greece to the Adriatic coast and then to Italy. When Paul and Silas first arrive in Philippi, they follow their established pattern and search for a synagogue. However,...

We will spend an extraordinary day exploring the riches of Istanbul.  During Paul’s lifetime, the city was known as Byzantium.  This strategic city is located on the west side of the Bosporus, the channel linking the Sea of Marmara with the Black Sea, and as the land bridge between Asia and Europe.  Byzantium marked the eastern end of the great Roman road known as the Via Egnatia that linked a chain of Roman colonies stretching from the Adriatic Sea to the Bosporus. Paul traveled extensively along this road during his second missionary journey where he reached Philippi and Thessalonica (Acts 16-17). Paul would be accused there as a man who “turned the world upside down” and “acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus” (Acts 17:6-7).   Paul’s missionary labors here would eventually bear fruit at the highest level of the Roman world beyond his lifetime.  In the early 4 th century AD, Constantine became the first Roman emper...